Improvement in devices for operating car-doors



UNITED 7 STATES PATENT OFFICE,

ABNER C. GOODELL, JR, OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN DEVICES FOR OPERATIN G CAR-DOORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 154,242, dated August18, 1874; application filed i May 2, 1874.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ABNER G. GooDELL,

Jr., of Salem, Essex county, Massachusetts,

, have invented an Improved Method of Operploy a driver only, aconductor being dis-' pensed with; and the purpose of my invention is toprovide a mechanism for opening, closing, or looking the rear door ofthe car, which mechanism shall be operated by the driver,

either with his foot, leaving both hands 'free for other duty, or withone hand, as circumstances may render desirable; a further object of myinvention being to enable the door to be opened and shut in the ordinarymanner, or to be removed from the car altogether, without effect upon orfrom the said mechanism, and which mechanism I apply so as to beoperated by a rod, or other equivalent arrangement, below the line ofthe seats in the car.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure 1, anelevation of the rear inner end of a street-railway car, with a portionof the sheathing removed and in Fig. 2, a vertical section of the same.

In these drawings, .A represents the inner rear end of a street-railwaycar, one of the corner-posts of which is shown at a, a door-post at a,the floor at b, the door-way at c, and the door at d, the lattertraveling upon a horizontal rail, 6, by means of trundles f f, the wholebeing substantially in the manner now generally practiced in theconstruction of streetrailway cars.

In carrying out the object of my invention, in one practical manner inwhich it may be accomplished, I attach to the upper part of the door acurved or bow-shaped spring, B, whose opposite sides are of equal lengthand stress, this spring being securely fastened at its center to thedoor, and bearing upon each extremity an anti-friction roller ortrundle, g or 9.

Furthermore, I dispose over the door at two horizontal bars or arms, h hof equal length, each being pivoted at its inner end to the door-frame,and centrally of the latter by a pivot, i, while to the free extremityof each bar I attach one end of a connecting rod or chain,

It or k, the opposite end of each rod being in turn attached to the freeend of one of two additional .bars or levers, l or l, which are placedbelow the car and are pivoted at their inner ends to the under side ofthe car-floor, and centrally thereof, or the foundation of the same, bya pivot and a hanger or boss, W, the inner arm a of each lever beingpreferably much shorter than the outer arm 0. Below the inner ends ofthe leversl l, and midway of their fulcrums, I place a doublewiper-cam,O,which is pivoted at its center to the hanger m this cambeing mounted upon a horizontal rockshaft or long rod, 10, disposedbelow the car, one end of which is supported within the hanger m whilethe other extends to the forward end of the car and is supported thereatby a second hanger. To this last-named extrernity of the rock-shaft 19 Isecure an upright bar or shipper, g, which protrudes through and risesabove the car-platform to such a height as to be readily accessible tothe foot of the driver, or to such a height as will enable him toreadily seize and operate it by his hand. a

D in the accompanying drawings represents a coiled spring, one end ofwhich is attached to one of the two arms h or h, and the other end tothe upper part or roof-beam of the doorframe, the office of each springbeing to return the two sets of levers to their normal, or idle,position, and to aid in bringing the shipper q to a vertical, orneutral, position, the cam U being at this time also neutral withrespect to the two levers Z Z.

If the door is open, and the driver desires to close it, he tilts theshipper q in the direction the door is to travel, the result of which isthat the end r of the cam O is elevated, the outer ends of the levers land hare depressed, the lowering of the latter lever or arm h having theeffect of first depressing the adjacent end of the spring B, and then ofpushing the door before it to a certain extent, the completion of thismovement of the door being effected by the spring. As the lover or armh, in its descent, reaches an angle of thirty degrees with the horizon,or thereabout, it ceases to depress the spring, the latter having storedup sufiicient power to complete by its own relaxation the closing of thedoor.

If the door is to be open ed, the driver pushes the shipper q in areverse direction to the first, the resultant action of the end 8 of thecam O, lever l, and arm h being precisely similar to that lastexplained.

In addition to the functions already performed by the spring B, it hasthe eli'ect of maintaining the rollers or trundles f firmly down uponthe rail 0, thus insuring a smooth, equable movement of the door, andenabling it at all times to travel evenly and easily upon the rail.

Should it be found desirable to lock the door 01, the driver has only tomaintain his pressure upon the shipper and compel the arm I or Z toremain in its depressed position, as this arm, which had previouslyadvanced the door, now constitutes a stop in its return movement untilthe shipper is returned to its normal or neutral position.

By my construction and adaptation of parts, the door is entirelyindependent of the actuatin g mechanism, and may be opened and closed byhand without efl'ect upon or from such mechanism, or the door may, ifdesirable, be removed altogether from the car without disconnecting orremoving the said mechanism.

The main purpose of my invention is to enable the driver of a car toopen and close or to lock the rear door by the power of one foot,leaving his hands free for other duties. In effecting this result Idispose the actuating mechanismnot immediately connected with the doorbelow, on, or in the floor of the car, or under the seat, thusconcealing it from sight and enabling it to be operated by the driversfoot; or the said mechanism at both ends of the car may be connected bya rod passing overhead, and worked by hand or foot.

I do not herein confine myself to the precise construction or locationof the mechanism as shown and described, as the details of suchmechanism may be greatly varied without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

I claim- 1. The combination of the arms h h, and mechanism for operatingthe same, with the car-door, the door being independent of anddisconnected from said arms except when directly moved by them, as setforth.

2. The combination, with the door d, of the spring B for aiding themovement of the door, maintaining it firmly upon its'supporting-rail,and looking it when open or closed, substantially as and for purposesstated.

3. The combination of the levers ll, arms h h, rail 0, and trundles g gwith the wiper-cam O and the shipper q, substantially as and forpurposes set forth.

ABNER 0. GOODELL, JR. Witnesses:

F. CURTIS, W. E. BOARDMAN.

